Blogfest 22: Vannessa Vinos and Her Biz Her Way

Today my guest blogger #22 is Vannessa Vinos who has a jewellery business called Luxuria. It was Vannessa who helped me make my own AB crystal necklace in 2017 which I wore on Christmas Day to many admiring glances. People were impressed! It’s not what she normally does, nor me you understand, but Vannessa’s just kind and thoughtful like that and she helped me source the beads I wanted and told me what sort of bendy wire to buy and everything! Anyway, here’s VV (as I call her) telling the story of Her Biz Her Way:

OK, this is a much longer post than I usually do. But I think it will be worth it. You see I recently read a book by Judith Morgan, a book about doing business in a way that suits you. I knew this was my kind of book. So I bought it. Read it and then read it again. Here’s why.

Judith was one of many coaches I had worked with. However, she was the last coach I ever worked with. Why? Because as her book title says, she helped me do business my way. She helped me listen to my instincts, buck the trends and find my bliss in business.

You see I had no online business experience when I started my jewellery business. In fact my previous business was overseas with my husband and it grew very rapidly without any marketing or advertising. We were very lucky. So I thought the same would happen with my new baby when I started my boutique in 2015. How wrong was I?

Here’s the thing. I am a former Criminal Psychologist. I don’t come from a family of entrepreneurs. However, I am very left-brain and love anything related to quantum mechanics, neuroscience and a little “woo-woo”. Judith has 40 years’ business experience, is quite left brain I would think as a very successful Accountant and also loves the woo-woo. We were a match. More importantly she got me. She got how my brain races far quicker than my mouth. She got that I do have slight ADD so could be all over the place even during our sessions. She never tried to box me in.

When I worked with other coaches they would come with their cookie cutter programmes and I just never fit into any one of them. Many of them left me feeling I was odd. Many of these gurus were telling me how they made 6 figures in 6 days whilst they were talking to me from their parents’ spare bedroom with their My Little Pony curtains still hanging up. However, I still listened and believed I couldn’t make this work if I didn’t do things THEIR way.

Now I only do what I feel aligned to do on any specific day without following rigid timetables. So if I want to read a book all afternoon or go for a long walk, I just go and do it. At first I felt really guilty about playing hooky in the middle of the day. But I soon learnt that when I did such things I would return to work full of inspiration.

I started to learn that the hustle was not for me. I am not saying the likes of Gary Vaynerchuck or Tony Robbins are wrong. I am a big fan of both, but their joy comes from the hustle. My joy no longer came from hustling. So I stopped.

I am a night owl. I do my best work when the house is silent and in darkness (I am actually writing this at 1.55am. Don’t ask!) So I have accepted I don’t have to be a member of the 5am club to be successful.

I hate business networking. I just find the whole experience very false and transparent. So I don’t network for the sake of networking and that’s not to say I am not sociable. I don’t belong to a Mastermind and I rarely attend business seminars. So I literally go against everything the biz gurus tell you to do.

I have started to work more with my intuition, that gut feeling we all get. Since doing so I have made some of the best decisions for my business.

I really follow what gives me joy on a day to day basis. There are some things in business like my accounts that will just never bring me joy. So now instead of fretting over my accounts, I contract that work out to an Accountant.

I was told by many business coaches I must write only about jewellery on my blog as that is what I sell. I personally couldn’t think of anything more boring to write about or read about every week. So now I just write about what I feel like. It might be something personal. Something lifestyle. Who knows? I don’t have an editorial calendar so it really is pot-luck. But ever since making that decision I find writing for my blog easier – it’s usually not something I enjoy. Consequently, the traffic to my blog has grown exponentially and in turn, a lot of my website traffic now comes from my blog. Many PR requests have also come from my most personal blog posts and not posts about my products.

I love the woo-woo. I meditate, visualise, use crystals, do energy work, use angel cards, follow the moon cycles. I love it all. It’s part of my business now. I can’t separate spirituality and business anymore. It’s who I am. It’s how I handle my perceived problems, how I dust myself down after I face plant into the ground. It’s how I handle my business when I am blocked creatively. It’s how I handle criticism. It’s what makes me jump out of bed most mornings excited to get working. All of these aspects of my business are assisted by my spiritual side.

These are just some of the ways I was given the courage by Judith to do biz my way and since doing so I have turned my business around 180º.

So if you are thinking about starting out on your own or even if you’ve been in business a while, PLEASE buy the book,read and implement. This is a book by someone who has been there, done it and bought more than one damn t-shirt which is why I was so happy to be invited to be part of her blogfest. Let me tell you I have never written for a blogfest before because I don’t really enjoy writing. It doesn’t come naturally for me. But I couldn’t let this one pass me by.

There are 52 short chapters in the book based on questions her mentees and the members of her Facebook groups wanted to answers to, so you can open the book at any page and learn so much. This is not some big tome that you will abandon after 200 pages. No this little gem can be read over a weekend. Or you can just dip in and out whenever you start doubting yourself which is how I use mine. So before you waste any more money on courses you are never going to do or coaching with gurus who still have nappy/diaper rash, just buy the book. You will thank me for it – just saying!

p.s Do pop over to the blogfest where you will read other inspiring stories from women doing business their way. If you wanted this year to different, then head over there, get inspired and buy the book.

Wow! What a read. Thank you so much for joining in with something you wouldn’t normally do. I loved reading all the ways you do biz your way these days and you come up with some wonderful expressions. I particularly like the one about finding your bliss in your business. Might have to borrow that one!

Your confidence shines through, confidence in doing business your way. That confidence was always there just a little bit below the surface and I am so happy, reading this, that I was able to play my part in your story of finding it again.

I’ve highlighted the important words in your list of bullet-points. My favourites include aligned, intuition, gut feeling, joy and courage. Anyone reading this who follows those emotional leads in doing their biz their way won’t go far wrong. Thanks for being an inspiro-girl and an ideal client – and for my beautiful necklace and matching ring too, of course.

Your Biz Your Way

If you have enjoyed reading my words here, you might also enjoy my book - Your Biz Your Way: Learning to Trust Yourself. Relax! You've Got This. Get a chunky free sample and/or buy the book here Read My Book

One Response to “Blogfest 22: Vannessa Vinos and Her Biz Her Way”

Awwwwh! Thank you so much for the wonderful words Judith. Means a lot.
It was my absolute pleasure writing this and it really made me think about all the ways I’ve changed doing business. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in the day to day we miss the progress we have made.
And yes, you played a HUGE part in that xx